Sewing needle clamp

ABSTRACT

A SEWING MACHINE NEEDLE AND NEEDLE CLAMP ARRANGEMENT WHEREIN THE SHANK OF THE NEEDLE IS PROVIDED WITH A BUTT PORTION MANY TIMES LARGER THAN THE NEEDLE BLADE. THE NEEDLE CLAMP INCLUDES A NEEDLE BUTT ACCOMMODATING SOCKET AND MEANS WHEREBY THE NEEDLE SIMPLY BY BEING INSERTED THEREIN IS   SECURED IN THE SOCKET BY FRICTION ALONE, AND MAY BE REMOVED FROM THE SOCKET QUIKCLY AND EASILY.

United States Patent inventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee William Weisz Wayne, NJ. 884,892

Dec. 11, 1969 June 28, 1971 The Singer Company New York, N.Y.

SEWING NEEDLE CLAMP 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl Int Cl D051) 55/02 Field of Search [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS v 1,746,009 2/1930 Mulford 128/221 Primary ExaminerRichard J. Scanlan, Jr. At!0rneysMarshall J. Breen, Chester A. Williams,Jr. and

Robert E. Smith ABSTRACT: A sewing machine needle and needle clamparrangement wherein the shank of the needle is provided with a buttportion many times larger than the needle blade. The needle clampincludes a needle butt accommodating socket and means whereby the needlesimply by being inserted therein is secured in the socket by frictionalone, and may be removed from the socket quickly and easily.

PATEN-TEU JUN28197| 3; 587,498

Fig. 4

BY WITNESSi ATTORNEY sawmc NEEDLE CLAMP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to devices for clamping the needle of a sewing machinein working position relative to the needle bar and has for an object toprovide a needle clamp which is easy to assemble and which will securelyclamp the needle yet permit the needle to be quickly removed whendesired.

Another object of this invention is to provide the operator with aneedle that is easily grasped, easily manipulated and one that cannotfully penetrate the needle-aperture in the sewing machine throat plateto cause damage should the needle be inadvertently dropped.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for quickly andeasily clamping a plurality of needles to the needle bar of a sewingmachine, as is required, for instance, for twin needle sewing.

Conventional needle clamps which employ a thumb screw to secure theneedle shank therein are not only cumbersome and time consuming to use,but they can cause a painful bruise when an operators finger is pinchedbeneath the thumb screw. These difficulties are obviated with thepresent invention, and moreover, the enlarged butt portion may be formedwith locating means correlated with needle eye orientation so as tofacilitate proper positioning of the needle in the needle clamp.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS With the above and additional objectsand advantages in view as will hereinafter appear, this inventioncomprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of partshereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of apreferred embodiment in which:

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view illustrating the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional elevational view taken substantially alongthe line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the presentinvention and particularly the relationship of the enlarged butt portionof the needle, the mounting block, and the needle bar. I

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the enlarged butt portion fixedlycarrying a' plurality of needles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As shown in FIGS. 1-4 inclusive asewing machine needle bar at itsv lower portion is provided with acylindrical bore 11. A needle mounting block 12 formed with a tang 13 ofreduced diameter is fast to the needle bar 10, the tang 13 being fixedlyseated in the bore 11 by means of a setscrew 14 accommodated in athreaded opening 15 formed in the lower portion of the needle bar 10. Aspring clip 16 is formed with a ring 17 which embraces the tang 13 andis interposed between the needle bar 10 and the upper portion of theneedle mounting block 12. Depending from the ring 17 of the spring clip16 is a tab 18 which carries a needle releasing plunger pin 19 formedwith an inclined camming face 20. Formed in the needle mounting block 12transversely of the needle bar 10 is a plunger pin accommodation channel21 which intersects a frustoconical needle accommodating seat 22 formedin the needle mounting block axially of the needle bar 10. The needlemounting block 12 may also be formed with exterior projections such asthe two arms 23 and 24, each capable of carrying accessories or drivingvarious sewing attachments.

A sewing needle having a shank 25, a blade 26 and a threadeye 27adjacent to a pointed extremity 28 is embedded at its shank end in anenlarged frustoconically shaped butt 29. The needle butt 29 is formedwith a taper and size which corresponds with that of the needleaccommodating seat 22. The tapered butt 29 includes a thread-eyereference key 30 projecting transversely of the needle shank 25, whichthread-eye reference key 30 may be seated in a radial orientation slot31 formed in the lower end of the needle mounting block 12 proximate thetapered needle channel 29 accommodating seat. As shown in FIG. 4 thetapered butt 29 may be formed with a block 32, in which the shanks 25 aplurality of sewing needles 33-33 are embedded. The arrangementillustrated in FIG. 4 would be used, for instance, when twin needlesewing is desired.

When it is desired to position a needle in the clamp, the operatorsimply places the tapered butt 29 of a selected needle into alignmentwith the tapered needle accommodating seat 22, taking care to align thethread-eye reference key 30 with the orientation slot keyway 31. Theoperator then urges the tapered butt 29 upwardly into a press fitfrictional engagement with the tapered needle accommodating seat 22. Itshould be understood that it is solely the frictional engagement of thetapered needle butt internally of the tapered needle accommodating seat22 that secures the needle to the needle bar. The needle may be removedfrom the needle mounting block 12 by depressing the plunger pin 19inwardly of the plunger pin accommodating channel 21 so that the cammingface 20 engages the upper portion of the tapered butt 29 and urges thetapered butt outwardly of the needle accommodating seat 22.

lclaim:

l. A needle clamp for securing a needle to a sewing machine needle bar,said needle clamp comprising means carried by said sewing machine needlebar and formed with a needle butt accommodating seat tapered inwardlywith respect to the and a needle releasing plunger shiftably arranged insaid channel.

